


Playing At Being Good

by Gildedmuse



Series: 10 Casts A-Crossing [5]
Category: Firefly, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Challenge Response, Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, F/M, M/M, Originally Posted on LiveJournal, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2020-02-27 01:50:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18729262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gildedmuse/pseuds/Gildedmuse
Summary: Mal doesn't like being lied to. Specially when it's by folks he's taken a deep, irrational dislike to.





	Playing At Being Good

**Author's Note:**

> [I have no memory of this. I found it when reposting my old stuff here. I assume it's for the 10 Casts A-Crossing Challenge but who knows.]

**Playing At Being Good**

  
“No.” Mal makes the word nice and harsh, bouncing all inside Serenity's gut. A good cold sound. “I already said we ain’t staying, so we ain't staying. _Dong ma_?”

“But captain, it’s his ma!” Kaylee’s got these big, round eyes makes her look just like a sweet little girl's doll, if that toy had been dragged around in the mud some. Could  be asking for trouble in certain places, looking just as pretty as she could, then it could be also maybe break a man's heart if he let it and – gorrammit - and she’s fixing them right on him. Well, he ain’t gonna give in, no matter how hard she goes looking. No, he’s the captain and this is his ship and for once - for ONCE - they’re gonna do what he says. And he’s saying no. “Come on, cap’n. You gotta let him go.”  
  
“Trust me,” Mal snorts, already turning his back on Kaylee and walking off. Cause he’s got things to do, not because he’s gonna give in if she keeps looking at him like she’s on the brink of tears. He’s just gotta go and captain, that’s all. “Would like nothing more than see Jayne go myself, but we ain’t got time, Kaylee. We have deadlines Those are a lot like timelines, but you mess'um up you end up with a hole lotta dead captain.”   
  
“But, cap’n. We won’t be late.” Mal rolls his eyes upwards, almost wishes the ship would stop working or something just so Kaylee would have to go and save them all and keep her busy a bit. “You’ve got everyone else to help, and Jayne and me? We’d just peak down to see her a little while. Come on, cap’n.”   
  
“What if something happens?” Mal turns around, his arms crossed and his face hard, and nothing makes him feel like a bad guy more than facing down Kaylee. She stares up at him with those eyes of hers, and gorramit all if Mal don’t feel like he’s been kicking puppies the way she looks at him right now! All because he’s trying to get through this job, no fuss and no problems. That’s all he wants, and Kaylee’s gotta go making those eyes at him for it! “What if alliance shows up and we gotta hightail it out of here in a hurry?”   
  
“Well, you'd just hafta come back and  get us when the coast is clear,” Kaylee reminds him, as if him just leaving them behind and not coming back never even crossed her mind. Plenty of people on this ship, they have the driving need to stay with _Serenity_ at all times, case  Mal gets it in his head to take off and just leave them. Kaylee, though, she never even doubts him.   
  
Can’t be healthy, the girl believing him to be that good.   
  
“And what if we need a mechanic?” He points out, wildly flapping around as if any minute now something would fall off his ship. It ain't exactly a rare occurrences nowadays..

“I’ve been showing River around _Serenity_ ,” Kaylee answers, nodding towards the engine room. Mal looks back himself, half afraid he’s gonna see the youngest Tam standing outside, wires in hand and smiling in that eerie way of hers that always adds up to trouble. “She‘d take care of her until you got me back.”   
  
Mal stares down his mechanic for a second, wondering if the girl had gone and lost her gorram mind. No, he already knows she has. Course she had the idea that Mal was a good man, and Lord knows only a certain brand of crazy kept people around him too long. Must be getting worse, too, what with how she gave up the doctor for Jayne, which to Mal’s mind is one of the craziest things he’s ever heard. Considering who he lives with, that is saying a whole hell of a lot.

Speaking of little miss witch. “You’ve been letting her around my engine!”  
  
Kaylee’s hands go right to her waist, giving Mal a damn good impression of a glare. “You let River fly!”   
  
“Yeah… but… I…” Alright, Mal could have done a sight better with that retort. “That ain’t the point! She’s not to be messing around in the engine room, is that clear?”   
  
“You told me someone else should know their way around the engine!” Kaylee fires back. “Case something like Shylock ever happens again!”   
  
Oh, yeah, Mal had said that, hadn’t he? C _aodan_ !“I meant someone not crazy!”   
  
Doesn't anyone on this ship respect that he's still Captain? Jayne already nearly threw a punch when Mal yelled at him for wanting to go off home. He don’t care if he wants to introduce Kaylee to Ma Cobb, Mal ain’t about to let the two of them run off together.   
  
And, alright, maybe Kaylee ain’t so wrong. It’ll take a while to get and load the cargo, and the two of them would have plenty of time to meet Jayne’s mom and get back, but there is something in it that Mal don’t like. Why’s Kaylee gotta meet the woman, anyway? Ain’t like her and Jayne are all that serious.   
  
At least, Mal is hoping they ain’t.   
  
“Listen, Kaylee, if you and Jayne ain’t here then -”   
  
“We’ll be just fine.”   
  
Zoe has this bad habit of sneaking up on him, and Mal sure wishes she’d stop that. It doesn’t give off a very captainly air when he’s jumping up every time his first mate comes up behind him. And she knows it, too, cause she’s looking at him and very nearly smiling in the way that she does. “Captain. Don’t you think we‘ll be just fine while they‘re off ?”   
  
“We got work that needs doing.”   
  
“And we got a mechanic in love,” Zoe points out, and she has a fierceness burning in her eyes that not to be messed with and it ain't that Mal is given in just on account of Kaylee being so sweet or that maybe his friends needs to see some love growing up around her... “And don’t you think someone on this ship should get a day off to be happy, sir?”   
  
“You mean it, Zoe?” Kaylee is smiling now, eyes shinning with happiness which is the way Mal prefers her, anyway, and besides he don’t wanna start a fight with Zoe. At least this way, Kaylee knows it wasn’t his idea she went off to meet Jayne’s family, and he don’t have to take responsibility for it, but he still gets her happy.   
  
So Mal just sighs, looking upward like someone is gonna help him out of this. “Fine.” Kaylee starts squealing with delight, and Mal holds up a hand to still her a bit. “But I best see the two of you back here before we leave, _dong ma_?”   
  
“Shiny, cap’n!” Kaylee even gets up on her toes, giving Mal’s cheek a kiss. Girl is far too good for Jayne, Mal thinks, but he can’t say it because she’s so happy and Mal ain’t gonna ruin it. At least, not today. Maybe later, when he remembers how much an idiot Jayne can be, and how he don’t wanna see Kaylee hurt by that idiot, then he’ll say something. Today, he’s just gonna let his mechanic be happy. 

“But you're responsible if she falls to bits,” he adds, yelling around his shoulder, trying to catch Kaylee as she makes her way through Serenity. “Gotta have someone with the ship, you hear me?”

*

  
“That sure was good of you, Captain” They were getting ready to leave just in time to catch Kaylee waving goodbye to River and Simon, her hand wrapped up in Jayne's oversized mitts making her look like a child being drag by her dad. Really? Jayne? “Mighty understanding, letting the two of them have this day off.”   
  
“Well, I have a first mate who likes playing at being my conscious, sometimes.” Mal yurns to his first mate, catching the twitch of a gin. It’s been a while, but she’s starting to smile again, and it’s a fine sight. “Besides,” he adds, slapping the railings before he starts down the stairs. “She promised me she’d be doing twice the work to make up for Jayne being gone and all. And the doctor here, he has more ship sitting time than any other, I'd say.”   
  
Down on the floor, Simon is scratching at the back of his neck as he watches the two of them ride off. Mal don’t know how the good doctor feels, being left for Jayne, but he can’t imagine it’s a good feeling. It is Jayne, after all. “I wonder what Jayne’s family is like,” Simon asks, frowning into the distance. “It’s hard to imagine him with any sort of parents.”   
  
“Ah, now…” Mal pats Simon on the back. Well, it’s more of a hit, really, enough to throw him off balance. Simon glares back after his stumble, and Mal just smiles down at him all innocent like. Sometimes, it’s just a little too fun picking on him the way Mal does. “Every man’s come from somewhere and have someone to love him.”   
  
“He could have been a genetic mutation.” Only one person on the whole of the ship that would have suggested that. River gets both her brother and Mal’s attention, but she ain’t looking back. “An exact replication of the parent, breeding asexually by the budding process to form an offspring out of themselves.”   
  
It all sounds very scientific, and also a lot crazy  Mal's sometimes not sure with River, by now figures mostly that it's some parts of both. “They are one, and not at all.”   
  
“She on any sort of meds?” Mal asks, turning to look at the doctor who frowns at him. That boy is always frowning, a little too much for a boy his age. Needs to at least try and be happy some time. They have plenty of other sad sorts onboard this ship already.   
  
“She’s just… It’s reproduction method,” Simon tries to explain, sort of swishing his hand around uselessly. “When certain species wish to reproduce-”   
  
“Whoa there, doctor.” Mal smirks when he holds his hands up. “Don’t need to be hearing the sex talk from you.”   
  
“I wasn’t-”   
  
“Already figured it out myself, long ago.”   
  
See, there he goes frowning some more, and blushing now, too, if Mal wasn’t mistaken. Alright, fair enough, he might just be flustered and a little put off, but it sure does look like blush when his cheeks go all red. “It had nothing to do with-”   
  
River‘s hand on his shoulder get Simon‘s attention even more than Mal being frustrating. “I have to go,” She explains, looking all serious. “The universe is about to collide, and I have to go.”   
  
And, sure as anything, River turns herself around and walks right back up the stairs and into _Serenity_ with her brother watching her go, mouthing some words to himself.   
  
“Ain’t she just the craziest thing,” Mal says with some fake fondness, ignoring Simon’s glare. “They here yet, Zoe?”   
  
Zoe finishes up her conversation with the dockhand before she answers. “Heard tale of a man waiting around in a bar nearby. Say he’s looking for a Joshua Minear.”   
  
“That would be us.” Mal nods to himself, stepping off the ship and onto the dust of the planet. Always something strange when his heel first hits the dirt. The world might be steadier, but it don’t feel it to Mal. “Guess we shouldn’t keep him waiting.”   
  
“You keep your sister from doing anything too insane while we’re out,” Mal adds over his shoulder to a still pouting Simon, looking all so put out just listening to Mal. “We wouldn’t want to miss any of the fun.” Can’t help but chuckle when Simon gets it in him to turn and walk off in a huff. He makes it too easy, riling him up. Only reason Mal even bothers sometimes. “And don’t let her near my ship’s engine!”   
  
“Sure it’s safe, leaving them alone on the ship?” Not that Zoe seems to be offering to stay, as she’s already following after Mal as they head out towards this bar. They have to get these goods all the way to Ghost before the buyer decides they ain’t worth paying for, which will be after the election. Doesn’t give them time to waste.   
  
“Safe enough,” Mal reasons, which ain’t exactly a yes, but that’s all he can say. Trouble has a way of finding the Tams, and Mal don’t want any trouble when he meets this guy they’re picking up from. “And we’ll be back right quick.”   
  
The bar looks just like any other bar on any other dock, really. Mal stands there for a while, lets his eyes adjust to the dim lighting. They always keep these places dim. Gives them that air of crime, he guesses, plus it makes it harder to see the food.   
  
Zoe straightens her back out, gives Mal that nudge to follow her eyes. Looks like she’s spotted their man already.   
  
He’s seated in a corner, feet propped up on the table with a beer right beside his boot. He’s an untrustworthy looking guy, which is fine by Mal. Always, it’s the ones who look a sight to trustworthy that prove they ain’t, so he at least appreciates the honesty in looking like a right bastard from the beginning.   
  
“You must be Lucas Swift….” Mal slides right into one of the seats across the this stranger. He gives him a good look over, not that he hadn’t already when they first spotted him, but he wanted the other man to see him look him over. Now that he saw that gun holster, and Mal pushes his coat back, making his plenty visible in return.   
  
The man had quite a smile, and he shows it off now as he puts down his feet and leans forward. “Let’s drop the games. I’m Solo. Han Solo,” he adds, offering out his hand. Seems like an honest enough gesture, so Mal shakes back. Good firm grip, none of that politeness of some of their wealthier buyers, like they’re afraid that if they touch Mal too much they might get dirty. Nah, this one’s already dirty, ain’t afraid of it. “And you are?”   
  
“Malcolm Reynolds.” If the man has heard the name before, say from a cortex warning or two, he sure doesn’t show it. “You here alone?”   
  
He’s got to ask, because Han don’t seem to be sitting with anyone and, hell, who comes to a dive like this to make a drop and not bring along a friend or two? Mal has got Zoe standing right over his shoulder, watching the rest of the room. He assumes that Han must have someone, too.   
  
But the man only shrugs. “Gotta partner back on the ship. Doesn’t like coming out much, though.” He pauses, scratches at his chin some as if thinking it through. “Got something of a hair problem.”   
  
Mal ain’t sure what that means, but he supposes it ain’t all that important. “So how you want to do this?” Mal turns to look out the window, watching the dock right nearby. A few lawmen walk past just as he does, and they’re not the first he’s seen. “Seems we might have some trouble…”   
  
Han leans in just a little more, smirking again and looking plenty cocky for it. “You just tell me where your ship is and don’t worry about it. I’ll get the goods there in plenty of time.”   
  
To say Mal trusts him would be a hell of an overstatement, but then he doesn’t get much of a choice in the matter. He needs the goods, and right now Han has them, so Mal pretty much has to agree. “We’re over on block D, liner four.”   
  
“Perfect.” Han leans back, hands behind his head and feet on top of the table. “Just wait until nine-” Mal starts to protest. Why the hell would they wait until nine? It’ll just waste hours, and the law is gonna be out more in the night so why bother? Only he don’t get very far, Han is already holding up a hand to quiet him and, _tamade_ , does he look like such an ass when he pulls that trick? “Hey, just trust me, alright? You’ll get the goods at nine.”   
  
With another smile, Han pushes himself out of the booth. “Been a pleasure doing business with you,” he adds as he walks off.   
  
“Ain’t done it yet…” Mal frowns, eyes following Han all the way out the door as Zoe fills in his now empty seat. “I’m not sure I like that man.”   
  
“Seems a little too sure of himself, don’t he, sir?” That and the way he kept smirking at Mal, like he knew better. He just wants to get these goods and be off, is all, don’t want to waste time on this other captain. “Bet Simon would like him well enough. Looks like the type,” Zoe adds, glancing back towards the door.   
  
“Well, Simon co… Wait. Huh?” Mal must have made quite the face, what since Zoe all but laughs at him. “What’s that mean?”   
  
“Nothing, sir.” Now she’s going back to trying not to smile, which Zoe is unnaturally good at. Still, Mal caught that look, that… look the woman gave him. What is that suppose to mean. “Didn’t mean nothing.”   
  
“Zoe, I am your captain and you gorram better tell me what that meant.”   
  
“Couldn’t say, sir. Slip of the tongue, is all.”   
  
And Mal would have tried to argue the point, only in that second the waiter came over to pick up the tab on his drinks and that meal he apparently enjoyed earlier. _Tamade_ , but Mal doesn’t like this Solo guy one bit.

  
*

By eight thirty, Mal is standing outside his ship waiting on that gorram cocky ass captain to come along with his goods. The sun is going down, and already he’s seen a fair share of lawmen walk right by them, checking out Mal and his less than legal looking ship. It doesn’t sit well on his stomach.   
  
“What time is it?”   
  
Mal looks up to check a strangely dressed man staring at him. He looks too damn clean to be in this part of town. “Excuse me?”   
  
“Time,” the man repeats, eyes never quite staying still in a way Mal don’t trust. “It’s very important I know the time.”   
  
“You’re not late.” Now when did River get down here? Mal frowns as the girl steps up behind him, and unconsciously he moves in front of her. Seen that she can more than take care of herself, need be, but Mal still don’t like having her out here on a planet like this after dark. Dangerous people are about, and Mal don’t want to deal with her brother’s temper tantrum if River went and got herself snatched. “But you need to hurry.”   
  
“Ah…” It’s like the stranger understands River perfectly, which is even more weird than the way the man’s dressed. Mal knows hardly a soul that understands River, not even the girl herself seems to get it at times. “Must be quick then. Thank you, young lady.” He smiles and waves, and River gives him a smile back.   
  
“Your brother know you‘re walking about out here at this hour?” Mal asks, because that was all a little too weird for him, and he don’t know what else to say.   
  
“You’ll protect me,” River answers, sings almost, as she dances back inside the ship, and Mal might smile at that image a little. Girl can be a kid sometimes, even still after all that has happened to her. Might wanna show her brother some of that sometime. He could use the same.   
  
“You go to bed, little one. Wouldn’t want you getting yourself into any trouble.”   
  
“I’m never trouble,” River promises, eyes lighting up with mischief and giggling as she disappears into _Serenity_ .   
  
“She’s a cute one.” Mal tenses back up to his normal self, finding Han standing right close. Closer than Mal should have let him get. “Little young for you, though, if you don’t mind me saying.”   
  
“I do,” Mal growls, hands going to his hips, right near his guns. Kinda a less than subtle way to tell the man not to go saying such things. “You’re late.”   
  
Han can only shrug. “Shift change took a little longer than I thought.” Shift change, of course. That’s why Mal ain’t seeing any more lawmen about, and suddenly Han doesn’t seem as clueless as he had before, though that don’t make him anymore likable, in Mal’s eyes. “I’m here now. Got your goods, too.” He pats the box next to his feet.   
  
Huh, so that’s it. Mal thought it would be bigger, more impressive. Then again, he ain’t in this to judge the goods, just to transport them and get paid for it, is all. “That all.”   
  
“What? You think I’d steal this junk? Yeah, that’s all he wanted. Or at least all the guy I picked it up from gave me. I did my job.”   
  
Mal nods, and goes to grab the package, haul it into the ship. So they didn’t really need Jayne after all. Least not for any heavy lifting.   
  
“Captain.” And just when things were looking to finally go smooth, Simon has to go and pop up right in front of Mal with that panicked sound in his voice. Mal swears, if River has torn out any part of the engine room, he’ll space her. Well, once they she fixes _Serenity_ and flies her back up there. “Captain, have you seen River - Oh.”   
  
Mal sighs, putting down his box to get a good look at Simon, who ain’t looking at Mal. “My apologies, captain. I wasn’t aware you weren‘t alone,” Simon says in that proper and prim voice of his, trying to hide his fright. Still scared that someone might recognize him, no doubt, after the alliance put their pictures back on the cortex.   
  
Han must not look it over too much, though. “We’re all done here, kid. I was just about to take off.”   
  
“That he was,” Mal says, standing up a little straighter so he doesn’t look so weak compared to Han. Not that he did, he just wanted Simon to know that he’s got this all settled and covered, and for once with no trouble. Let the boy know he ain‘t useless as a captain. “And your sister just danced her way to bed, like a good little pilot.”   
  
Before he leaves, though, Han has to go smiling and offering out his hand. “Han Solo, by the way. Nice to meet you, kid.”   
  
“Err…” Simon looks as nervous as a school boy on his first date. “Simon…” Purposefully leaving out his last name, too, when he shakes Han’s hand. But he is smiling, which is something. “It’s nice to meet you, Mister Solo.”   
  
Han has a deep laugh that Mal can’t help getting annoyed at. “It’s just Han, kid.”   
  
“Right. Han.”   
  
Mal is looking at Simon, who is looking at Han, and suddenly he sorta hates Zoe. “We have a deadline,” he grunts, giving Simon a push with his shoulder as he walks by, carrying his box. “Can’t be wasting time.”   
  
“Of course.” Simon turns and starts frowning again. Now why does he go and smile for a total stranger and then start frowning like that at Mal? “But shouldn’t we wait for Kaylee and Jayne?”   
  
Mal hates that boy sometimes.   
  
“See now?” When Han smirks, Mal’s got this strange urge to go hitting him. Lucky his arms are full with this box, probably. He really doesn’t like how confident Han looks, leaning up against _Serenity_ like he belongs anywhere near Mal’s ship. “You got your goods in plenty of time. Even have some to spare.”   
  
“You said nine,” Mal answers, walking up into the ship, maybe hurrying a little. He doesn’t like the idea of leaving Simon standing out there with Han. Who knows what sort of man he is, and the doctor ain’t always the smartest when it comes to people. He’s gotten himself snatched before, after all, and Mal sure as hell don’t want a repeat. Especially not when they have deadlines.   
  
“You’ll have to excuse him,” Mal can hear Simon saying, as if the good doctor is in any position to go making excuses for Mal.   
  
“Man’s in a hurry,” Han answers, and even out of sight Mal is sure he must be smiling at Simon, and the boy is probably smiling right back. It ain’t the best picture, and that is something Mal don’t wanna think on too hard.   
  
It’s the first time in a long time he’s thankful to hear Jayne’s voice, along with the sputter of the mule as she boards the ship. “Sorry we’re late.”   
  
“It’s about damn time!” Mal snaps, and even Jayne looks taken back by the bite of it. Well, Mal ain’t in such a shiny mood, and the way Kaylee and Jayne had been beaming hadn’t been helping and, gorramnit, why don’t anyone care that they’re on a schedule which Mal can’t afford to go breaking?   
  
He pushes right past Jayne, ignores the comment the gunman makes, and without so much as a word to Han, grabs Simon by the arm and is hauling him back in the ship.   
  
“I.. What?” Simon struggles the whole way, of course, and by the time Mal has let him go and is closing the door behind them, Simon has managed to straighten out his shirt and has settled into a glare. “What do you think you’re doing? You couldn’t have just asked? You had to drag me in here by the-”   
  
“I’m the captain, I do what I want!” Yeah, it’s possibly the most immature thing Mal could have thought to say, but he’s confused, tired, and has this job waiting on being finished before time runs out, so he doesn’t want to waste his time coming up with a good sounding excuse. “Besides, you kept…” And he waves his hands around his head some, because that’s as close as he can get to actual words. “Smiling!”   
  
Course he ain’t smiling now, not one bit. “Smiling?” Simon repeats, as if trying the word out in his mouth, as if trying to figure Mal out.   
  
And that is something he don’t need to think on either, Simon, mouth and all.   
  
“Yes, smiling!” Mal accuses, and because this can’t be going anywhere good, he storms back up the stairs to go and grab river and get this off this God forsaken planet.   
  
Behind him, he can hear Kaylee say, “Ah, that’s kinda cute.”   
  
“No,” Mal barks just under his breath. “No, it ain’t.” Because nothing Mal does is cute, because he ain’t like that. He ain’t the good guy, and he’s definitely not what she thinks he is, so she just needs to stop dreaming. Her and Simon both, it would seem.   
  
Smiling. He’d been smiling at Han Gorram Solo. They’re never working with him again, Mal decides, and he’s captain, so no one can argue with that. This time, he’s sticking to his word.


End file.
